Kaley Cuoco is shedding her Big Bang Theory persona and stepping into her own as a critically acclaimed star of the small screen.
The 35-year-old award-winner will play screen icon Doris Day in an upcoming limited series in development at Warner Bros. television, according to a new Deadline report on Friday.
Cuoco received critical acclaim for her most recent starring role in HBOMax’s The Flight Attendant, which she also developed and produced, and will work with the same production team on the Doris Day project.
Legendary: Kaley Cuoco, 35, will play screen icon Doris Day in an upcoming limited series in development at Warner Bros. television, according to a new Deadline report on Friday
The actress’ company Yes, Norman Productions is re-teaming with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television on an adaptation of the Doris Day biography penned by A.E. Hotchner titled Doris Day: Her Own Story.
At the moment no network is attached to the series, Deadline reported. It stands to reason, however, that the limited series could find a home on HBOMax since the streaming platform staked claim to Cuoco’s The Flight Attendant as well as her upcoming adult animated series Harley Quinn.
Hotchner’s book, which was written back in the 70’s about the actresses life, serves as the source material for the Doris Day project.
Officially sanctioned by Day herself, the star sat with the author for a series of interviews that we used to pen the finished product.
On screen: The limited series is based on the official Doris Day biography penned by A.E. Hotchner titled Doris Day: Her Own Story and currently has no network attached
Proven success: The actress’ company, Yes, Norman Productions, will team up again with the producers behind The Flight Attendant for the upcoming project
Doris Day, born Doris Marianne von Kappelhoff, rose to fame as movie star back in the 1950s and 60s becoming one of Hollywood’s most in demand actresses.
Her career spanned two decades and during that time she completed an astonishing 39 films.
Her classic films include Pillow Talk, Love Me or Leave Me, Romance on the High Seas and Calamity Jane. Her songs Sentimental Journey, Secret Love and Que Sera Sera have all been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Her public and on-screen persona was as wholesome as it comes however her personal life was marred with drama, particularly when it came to romance.
Leading lady: Doris Day, born Doris Marianne von Kappelhoff, rose to fame as movie star back in the 1950s and 60s becoming one of Hollywood’s most in demand actresses with a career spanning two decades and 39 films
Well known: Her classic films include Pillow Talk, Love Me or Leave Me, Romance on the High Seas and Calamity Jane and her songs Sentimental Journey, Secret Love and Que Sera Sera have all been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame
The actress was married four times but had only one son, Terry Melcher, who died in 2004 after losing a battle with melanoma.
All of her marriages collapsed; her first husband beat her, the second left her, the third squandered her fortune and her fourth felt overlooked by her for her dogs.
She also struggled with mental health issues. At the height of her career in the 1950s, the blonde beauty suffered a bout of mental illness.
It is likely that Cuoco’s role as the actress will cover some of her darker times. In the biography that is being used as the source material for the series, Day went into to detail about her failed marriages.
Candid: The source material from the limited series is Hotchner’s biography from 1976 which was written based on a series of interviews given by the actress who had left Hollywood by then to focus on her animal activism
She penned that her first husband beat her when she was pregnant, her second left her because he knew she would become a star and ‘didn’t want to become Mr. Doris Day’, and her third controlled her social life and career then died, leaving her in debt and forced to return to work.
‘I have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-Shoes, America’s Virgin, and all that, so I’m afraid it’s going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together,’ she said in the book.
Elsewhere, she wrote: ‘My public image is unshakably that of America’s wholesome virgin, the girl next door, carefree and brimming with happiness, an image, I can assure you, more make-believe than any film part I ever played.
Dark times: Day’s public and on-screen persona was as wholesome as it comes however her personal life was marred with drama, particularly when it came to romance, which she discussed in her biography
‘But I am Miss Chastity Belt and that’s all there is to it.’
Doris died at her home in Carmel Valley, California in 2019 at the age of 97 from pneumonia. Her passing was announced through her charity The Doris Day Animal Foundation.
The foundation said in a statement that she was surrounded by close friends and ‘had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia.’
The charity also revealed that ‘her wishes were that she have no funeral or memorial service and no grave marker.’ Instead, she wanted fans to donate to the charity she founded to save animals.
End of her life: Doris died at her home in Carmel Valley, California in 2019 at the age of 97 from pneumonia. Her passing was announced through her charity The Doris Day Animal Foundation